Slashing machine



June 23, V1936. w. "c BAXTER I 2,054,870

` SLASHING AMACHINE Filed OC. 5, 1933' 3 SheeLS---Sheetlf /Vl/E/vr w M Q 8m W. C. BAXTER sLA'sHING MACHINE June 23, 1936.

3 She`e`ts-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3, 1933 1 slung...

June 23, 1936. w'. c. BAXTER 2,044,879

SLASHING` MACHINE F'iled Oct. 3, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 /VVEA/TUH;

frame; The-two shafts I2 and I6 carry all the operating elements necessary to produce operation of the several automatic mechanisms.

Referring now to Fig. 2, when a sole |8 is placed in the machine it is initially flat or approximately so, as represented in full lines, but when the machine is treadled to set it in operation the sole is immediately flexed, as represented in dotted lines, before any other operation is performed thereon. The operator inserts the sole endwise with movement from left to right and preferably toe-end foremost until the toeend thereof abuts against an adjustable stop or gauge I9 which remains stationary in the position represented in Fig. 2. 'Ihe purpose of the gauge I9 is to locate the sole initially in a predetermined relation to a flat reciprocatory slashing knife 26 and a rigid, stationary cutting bed 2| between which the sole passes not only while being inserted manually but also While being fed automatically step by step from left to right after the machine has been set in operation. The work-engaging surface of the cutting bed 2| is smooth and cylindrical, and the cutting edge of the knife is straight and parallel thereto, (see Fig. l). The act of treadling the machine to set it in'operation causes upward movement of an idle roll 22 and a driven feed-roll 23, both of which extend underthe sole and project beyond both side edges thereof, one in advance of the cutting bed 2| and the other behind the cutting bed. When these two rolls are raised,

they bend the sole against the cutting bed 2| asrepresented in .dotted lines, the lower surface of the sole being thereby tensioned, the more readilyto be slashed or parted by the knife 20. Moreover, the idle roll 22 raises the toe-end of the soleabove the level of the gauge I9 to provide for the' feeding movement by which the sole is to beautomatically advanced step by step over the gauge. Both of the rolls 22 and 23 re- Vmain in their upper positions until the latter half of the iinal cycle of operations, at which point theyA are restored automatically to their initial positions. The machine may be regulated by the operator, before it is set in operation, to execute [ofthe cutting bed 2 I, andthe length of its cutlting edge is suiiicient to insure that each slash will extend across the full width of a sole. When an insole thus slashed is subsequently incorporated into Va shoe, the slashed surface will be .toward the outsole, sinceY it is desirable to place :the unslashed surface toward the interior of the shoe for contact with the wearers foot. The

lroll 23, preferably made of steel, is positively 'but intermittently driven to feed the sole and,

since it does not engage the surface that will contact with the wearers foot, it may be provided with sole-engaging teeth to render its feeding effect virtually positive. On the other hand, a complemental feed-roll 24, with which thefeed-roll 23 cooperates to grip and feed the sole, is `preferably shod with resilient rubber to vavoid marring or indenting the surface that is tolcontact the wearers foot and at the same time to furnish a powerful tractive effect both for feeding purposes and to maintain the sole against moving while the knife is operating thereon.

The feed-roll 24 is carried by a shaft 25 jour- `naled in xed bearings in a detachable frame member 26 rigidly secured to the frame I0, but the toothed feed-roll 23 is journaled in a movable frame member 21 pivotally connected to the frame member 26 by trunnions 28. A compression spring 29 supported by the frame member 26 exerts its force against the movable frame member 21 through the medium of an interposed stud 30, the frame member 21 being thereby rocked on its trunnions 28 to press the feed-roll 23 against the sole after once being released from its initial position. The feed-roll 23 is initially depressed by a wedge-shaped cam 3| arranged to lift a cam-roll 32 mounted on the frame member 21, the cam being carried by a slider 33 that is operated automatically for this purpose and remains effective until released manually by treadle connections to be described.

As shown in Fig. 3, the shaft 25 that carries the rubber-covered feed-roll 24 is provided with a ratchet-wheel 35, the teeth of which are spaced one from another in accordance with the desired spacing of successive slashes to be cut by the knife 26. This ratchet-wheel is rotated intermittently by a driving pawl 36 and is constrained against reverse rotation by a spring-pressed retaining pawl 31. The driving pawl 36 is carried by a plunger 38 one end of which is guided by a xture 39 and the other end of which is forked and straddles the counter-shaft I6 to be guided thereby. A grooved cam 48 keyed to the shaft I6 operates the plunger 38 which is provided with a cam-roll 4| to complete the connection. The `fixture 39 contains a spring-pressed follower 42 by which the pawl 36 is pressed against the ratchet-wheel with provision for yielding as the pawl recedes from one tooth to engage the next. Rotation of the rubber-covered feed-roll 24 is communicated to the toothed feed-roll 23 by gearing shown in Fig. 4. This gearing comprises a driving gear 43 affixed to the roll-shaft 25, a broad-faced idle gear 44, an idle gear 45 arranged on one of the trunnions 28, and a driven gear 46 affixed to the shaft 41 that carries the toothed feed-roll 23. Although the driving gear 43 appears to be in meshed relation with the idle gear 45 in Fig. 4, this is not so in fact, these two gears being offset axially to clear each other, although both are in meshed relation with the broad-faced intermediate gear 44.

l.The slashing knife 20 is adjustably secured to a reciprocatory carriage 58 by clamping bolts 5| (Fig. 2). The carriage 50 is superposed upon, and carried by, another reciprocatory carriage 52. One of these carriages` is operated with substantially harmonic movement toward and from the cutting bed 2| to provide a factor of penetration, and the other is operated with substantially harmonic transverse movement to provide a scoring factor while the knife is penetrating a sole lying against the cutting bed, the two components of operating movement thus imparted simultaneously to the knife being coordinated to produce a parallel motion of the cutting edge in an orbit spaced from the effective plane of the cutting bed to avoid cutting entirely through the work, and to insure a draw-cut equally deep at all points. In the illustrated construction, the carriage 52 is the one that is operated with movement toward and from the cutting bed, and the ycarriage 50 is the one that is reciprocated transversely to provide the scoring motion necessary for a draw-cut. The carriage 5I) is mortised into the carriage 52 with tongue-and-groove connections extending parallel to the cutting edge of the knife 20.

'I'he carriage 52 is arranged to slide 75 in inclined ,guides 53-in the spaced confronting cheeks of the frame Il). An eccentric-strap 54 (Fig. 1) embracing the eccentric I3 imparts substantially harmonic motion to the carriage 52 by a pivot-pin 5.5 .(Fig. 2). f Y

Motion for reciprocating the carriage 50 transversely is communicated positively thereto in timed relation to the kto-and-fro motions of the carriage` 52. Forthis purpose, a grooved block 56 is aflixed to the underside of the carriage 56, the groove being parallel to the path of the carriage 52 (seeFig. 1). A slider 51 arranged in this groove is `mounted on a pivot-stud 58 carried by a two-armed lever .59. -The lever is mounted upon a fulcrum-pin 69 secured in a web ofthe frame lll.` The other arm of the lever 59 is pivotally connectedV to a link 6| operated by a lever-62. This lever is mounted on a fulcrum-pin 63 (Fig. 5) inserted into the frame I0. A segmental gear `64 formed on the lever 62 receives operatingmotion from a rack 65 formed on a member 66 carried by a slide 6'! arranged inguides B8 afXed t0 the frame l0. A cam-roll 69 carried by the slide 61 receives harmonic operating motion from a circular eccentric cam-groove 19 formed in the same member that provides the cam 40 hereinbefore described. The non-integral construction of the elements 66 and 61 is due to utilization of parts originally Idesigned to provide a yieldable connection in machines such as that set forth in said Letters Patent No. 1,124,182, but, for the purposes of the ,present invention these two elements arevirtually one in operation and effect. Accordingly, .asA illustrated in Fig. 5, a tubular filler 'll takes the place of a compression-spring that was originally intended to be interposed between the elements 66 and 61 to provide the yieldable connection above mentioned. For present purposes, the filler 1| and the parts by which it is secured maintain the elements 66 and 61 rigidly in constant relation so that the transverse motion of the slashing knife 29 will be positive under all conditions. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, although the grooved blcck56 partakes of the reciprocations of the carriage 52 toward and from the cutting bed 2|, the length of the block is sufficient to maintain the operating connec- -tion between the transversely movable carriage 50 and the operating lever 59. i

As in the organization shown in the Letters Patent above mentioned, the counter-shaft |6 is provided with a cam 'l2 (Fig. 2) the purpose cf which is to operate a regulatable mechanism by which the machine is automatically stopped upon completion of a predetermined but variable number of cycles of operation. This cam reciprocates a lever 13 the fulcrum of which is a stationary stud 14 secured to the frame I9. This lever carries a pawl 15 (Figs. l, 3 and 4) arranged to turn a ratchet-wheel 16 a distance corresponding to one tooth for each cycle of the slashing knife. The ratchet-wheel is loosely mounted on a spindle and is influenced by a torsion spring 'll and thereby restored automatically to an initial position whenever it is released from a retaining pawl (not shown). Thespindle is provided with a combined knob and dial '|8 at its upper end whereby it may be manually depressed against the force of a compression-spring 19 to release it from the ratchet-wheel and by which it may also be turned relatively. to the ratchetwheel when so released, this device constituting a regulator by whichthe operator may set the maexecuted a predetermined number of cycles. A

tripping finger 8| aiiixed to the lower end of the spindle" is provided with a pin (not shown) that may enter any one of a circular series of holes formed in the ratchet-wheel, the number and` spacing of the holes corresponding to those of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel. The angular position` of theiinger 8| with respect to the ratchet-wheel may be varied by turning the knob 'I8 whenever the spindle Tl is released from the ratchet-wheelas above described, but the finger 8| is locked relatively to the ratchet-wheel whenever the locking pin enters oneof the holes 89. Thus, after once setting the finger 9| at the desired position with respect to the ratchet-wheel, a predetermined number of operating strokes of the pawl '|5 will be required to turn the finger to a position where it will abut against the lower end of a tripping rod 82, shown in Fig. 4. In the nal cycle determined by the preliminary setting of the knob- '18, the finger 8| will displace the rod 82 endwise against the force of a compression-spring 83 and thereby set in motion several automatic mechanisms, one of which depresses the roll 22 to its initial position, one of which depresses the toothed feed-roll 23 to its initial position, and one of which disconnects the driving clutch on the main shaft l2 and applies a brake to arrest the rotation of the main shaft at or near a point corresponding to full rei nected to the frame l0 by a fulcrum-pin 9| and is also connected to the upper end of a link 92 by a pivot-pin 93. A tension-spring 94 anchored to the frame I9 engages the pivot-pin 93 to exert a downward pull thereon but, when the link 92 is raised above its initial position shown in Fig. 4

to set the machine in operation, the lever 89 straightens the toggle 85, 86 which then remains straightened so long as the machine is in operation notwithstanding the downward pull of the spring 94.

The pivot-pin carried by the lever 89 also forms an operating connection between the toggle 85, 86` and a yoke 95 in which the roll 22 is journaled. 'I'his yoke is connected to the frame l0 by trunnionsl 96. The toggle 85, 36 is thus rendered effective to maintain the roll 22 in its operative position to which it may be raised only by upward movement of the link 92, but, when the striker 84 breaks the toggle, the spring 94, which is stronger than the spring 8l, becomes effective to maintain the roll 22 in its lower position while the machine is at rest.

The lever 89 is also eiective to cause operation of the slide 33 (Fig. 2) whereby the cam 3| is moved in a direction to depress the toothed feedroll 23 to its initial position. For this purpose, the lever 89 is provided with an arm 91 from which motion is communicated by a link 98 to an arm 99 and thence to a toggle (not shown) by which the cam slide 88 is operated as in the organization illustrated in the Letters Patent above mentioned.

When the lever 89 is released in consequence of operation of the striker 84, the link 92 is immediatelydrawn` down topthe position shown in Fig. 4 by the spring 94, this motion of the link being communicated to a lever it by a pin IUI aixed to the rod. When the lever lll@ is thus actuated it initiates the operation of automatic stopping mechanism by which a driving clutch 48 and a friction-brake 49 on the main shaft I2 are controlled to arrest the shaft at a predetermined point in its cycle. The construction and operation of this automatic stopping mechanism are similar to those of the corresponding mechanism illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,864,631, granted June 28, 1932 on my application. A characteristic of this mechanism is that although the operator may set the machine in operation by raising a treadlerod 34, the shaft will stop at the completion of any predetermined number of cycles whether or not the operator releases the treadle-rod.

The specimen sole represented in Fig. 6 has. a series of thirteen transverse slashes 85 and represents a typical example of work for which the illustrated machine is designed. Assuming that it is desired to use the machine to form a series of thirteen slashes as represented in this gure, the operator will first depress the knob 18 and then turn it to a position that will bring the numeral. I3 of a scale carried by the knob to a corresponding position in register with a stationary index point 106 (Fig. l). The machine is thus made ready to operate without any further effort on the part of the operator except to insert a sole and depress a. treadle (not shown) to raise the treadle rod 34. When the sole is inserted, it is supported not only by the rolls and 23 but also by a stationary supporting table itl (Fig. 2). Having inserted the sole far enough to place the toe, end thereof against the gauge i8, the operator depresses the treadle, the first eect of which is to raise the rolls 22 and 23 as hereinbefore described. The final stage of upward movement of the treadle rod 92 renders the driving clutch 48 operative, whereupon the shafts l2 and i6 are set in operation which continues until they have executed thirteen cycles. During the thirteenth Icycle, the striker 8d (Fig. 4) breaks the toggle 85, 86 at that stage when the slashing knife has completed its thirteenth slashing motion but before it has been fully retracted from the cutting bed 2|. Now, before the rotation of the shafts is arrested, the knife-carriage 552 ret-urns to its initial position (full retraction) and thereby picks up and carries with it the cam-slide 88 by which the toothed feed-roll 23 is depressed. The pickup of the cam-slide 33 is due to the nal movement of the lever 89 whereby the lever 99 is operated. The final movement of the lever 89 also actuates the lever i8@ by which a toggle lf3? is straightened to transmit the motion of a cam (not shown) to a lever 88. When the lever m3 is thus rocked on its fulcrum-pin it releases the clutch 48 and applies the brake QQ.

Having thus described my invention, what I 'claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed, a slashing knife arranged to operate against said bed, means arranged to operate said knife with simultaneous components of penetrating motion and scoring motion in an orbital path intersecting one surface of the work, and mechanism arranged to feed the work step by step and maintain it against displacement between feeding steps.

2. A machine for slashing sheet-stack comprising a cutting bed having a convex work-sustaining surface, means arranged to bend a work-piece against said surface and thereby tension the outcurved surface of the work-piece, a reciprocatory knife arranged to cut a slash in the outcurved surface of the work-piece so bent, and mechanism arranged to operate said knife with simultaneous components of penetrating motion and motion lengthwise of its cutting edge.

3. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a slashing knife and a cutting bed arranged in a relation to produce an inclined slash in a work-piece lying between them, and means arranged to operate the knife with penetrating motion and scoring motion so compounded as to produce parallel motion in an orbital path intersecting one surface of the work.

4. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed having a convex work-sustaining surface, means arranged to bend a workpiece against said surface, mechanism arranged to feed a sole step by step, a knife having a straight cutting edge arranged to out slashes successively in a work-piece so fed, and mechanism arranged to operate said knife with an orbital motion comprising simultaneous components of penetrating motion and motion lengthwise of its cutting edge.

5. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed, mechanism arranged to feed a work-piece step by step, a knife having a straight cutting edge arranged to cut slashes successively in a plane oblique to the work-sustaining surface of said cutting-bed, and mechanism arranged to operate said knife with an orbital motion comprising simultaneous components of penetrating motion and motion lengthwise of its cutting edge.

6. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a knife and a cutting bed relatively movable to and fro to cut a series of slashes successively in a work-piece located between them, mechanism arranged to operate one of them with a component of penetrative movement and one of them with a simultaneous component of transverse movement, and mechanism arranged to feed the work-piece step by step transversely of the slashes while said knife is out of the work to place a series of unslashed portions thereof successively in the path of the knife.

7. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed, two reciprocatory carriages one of which is superposed upon and carried by the other and movable crosswise relatively thereto, a knife secured to said superposed carriage, and means arranged to reciprocate said carriages, in relatively transverse directions with substantially harmonic motions compounded to carry the knife in an orbital path intersecting one surface of the Work.

8. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed, two reciprocatory carriages one of which is superposed upon, and carried by, the other and movable relatively thereto, a knife -secured to said superposed carriage, mechanism arranged to operate said other carriage with movement toward and from said cutting-bed, mechanism by which said superposed carriage is moved transversely of the path of said other carriage while the knife is penetrating a workpiece lying against the cutting bed, and workfeeding means` by which the work-piece is ad- 70 vanced step by step and maintained against moving while said knife is operating on the Workpiece.

9. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a fixed cutting bed, mechanism arranged to 75 feed a Work-piece step by step to place a series of portions thereof successively at a fixed point of operation on said cutting bed, a knife arranged to cut individual transverse slashes successively in the portions stationed at said fixed point, and mechanism by which said knife is operated to cut While the Work is stationary with an orbital motion comprising components of penetrating motion and simultaneous components of motion lengthwise oi its cutting edge.

10. A machine for slashing sheet-stock comprising a cutting bed, a knife arranged to cut slashes successively in a work-piece lying against said cutting bed, two cooperative feed-rolls one of which is movable toward and from the other to grip and release the Work-piece, mechanism by which both of said feed-rolls are driven intermittently to feed the Work-piece, and mechanism by which said knife is operated.

WILLIAM C. BAXTER. 

